Farewell to Free Pizza: Lulu’s to Close on August 9th

Lulu's: Sadly closing its doors forever on August 9th (Image Courtesy of Lulu's)

As we were passing by Lulu’s on Sunday night we were shocked to see a sign outside saying ‘Last Call…15 Days Left‘. When we popped inside in the hope that the sign was just some kind of sick prank, our worst fears were confirmed: Lulu’s, the Franklin Street institution famed and loved for its free pizza and live music will indeed be closing its doors for the last time on August 9th.

Lulu’s Manager Ani Monteleone tells us the closure “has something to do with an unresolvable disagreement with the landlords of the space.”

In April of this year Lulu’s owner John McGillion took out a lawsuit against his landlord for not allowing him to turn the establishment into a gay bar. According to the New York Post, McGillion stated that he was “barely scraping by on the proceeds of the bar” and felt that he would “be able to make a considerable profit” by making Lulu’s a gay venue. The landlord’s alleged (and shocking) ‘anti-gay clause’ stopped this idea from ever coming to fruition.

McGillion also owns other local free pizza venues The Charleston and The Alligator Lounge (along with several others) and we’re told that “there is no plan to open a new Lulu’s, only to carry on as usual with the other bars.”

“We are all very sad about Lulu’s closing” says Monteleone “and its crazy to see the community’s response as well.”

Lulu’s will be having a GRAND FINALE open show on August 9th that will feature bands from past and present employees of Lulu’s. The final hurrah will start early in the afternoon and will most likely go all night. Stay tuned to their Facebook page for more info. It is essential that everyone who has ever known and loved Lulu’s gets down there to give them the send off they deserve!.

In the meantime make sure you spend a few quality evenings propping up the bar before Lulu’s is gone forever. Grab a beer, rock out, eat some gratis pizza and treat yourself to a few extra toppings. Who knows how long it could be until free pizza returns to Greenpoint…(STIFLED SOB).

About Rosie

Rosie de Belgeonne is a video editor and specializes in movie trailers. Her days in a dark edit suite are balanced with sunny runs around McCarren Park track and weekends spent discovering Greenpoint's finest eateries.
If you have any local foody news or tip-offs you can email her at food@greenpointers.com, or tweet @Rosie_de_B

7 Comments

I worked for this company for many years, myself, like hundreds of their dedicated employees, mean nothing to these people. They have no problem pulling rugs and slamming doors. While so many are up in arms I’m glad to see them leave the neighborhood…

Yes my opinion is skewed by my experience working for the 1%ers that own this bar, but before anyone tries to take their side understand a few things…

The bad blood between the landlords and the company is a direct result of having not paid rent for years. When they were actually paying they never paid on time which resulted in late fees which was part of the agreement in “the unfavorable lease.” I dont think anyone actually realizes how many bars these people own (Abbey, Charleston, Trash Bar, Lulus, Metropolitan, Alligator, Crocodile, Hugs the Cove whatever the fuck its called now), Macri Park, I am definitely forgetting a few but more recently they have moved onto Asbury Park. They have plenty of money to pay their bills. When I lost my job with them (rather suddenly) one of the owners actually told me she’d pay me to paint her “mansion” in Westchester… that the house was “so big it would be a good two weeks of pay.” What a lovely severance plan…

I’d also like to mention that the owner John has at one time or another considered turning just about everyone of his bars into a gay bar… All based on the success of a gay bar they opened in Asbury Park. While this article paints the landlords as homophobic and closed minded I have NEVER in my life met a more homophobic, bigoted, racist and intolerant man than John Sr. The gay community is one giant dollar sign to him nothing more.

My deepest apologies to all the workers who are suddenly losing their jobs, but just think you’ll never have to deal with a spotter again.

Thank you good riddance for setting the record straight. These owners are the worst and I also worked for them and lost my job very suddenly. I too am a little tired of hearing everyone cry about this place closing. Whether the landlords are homophobic or not has nothing to do with the Lulus closing.

Thank the Lord this place is closing. Total dump. 15 years ago when it was an open garage, there were short films and art shows going down in the space. Understand thats the past as is this neighborhood. Really bad music which torments the surrounding neighbors. 23 year old kids jumping all over the hoods of cars. Bullshit they aren’t making money, the place it totally packed all the time. Get em out and hope for something other than a bar… No more bars on this block.